Monday, September 23, 2013

Vineyard Dream Sign


The vineyard dream continues. I painted 15 similar scenes as backgrounds for a series of wine identification signs at Trader Joe's. Each one has a fertile green landscape with trees and greenery, with a vineyard somewhere in the picture. Blue mountains or Blue Ridge hills appear in the distance. These landscapes are not "authentic" portrayals of real scenes, they are imaginary views.

Now that the backgrounds are done, I will letter the names of wine varieties onto the boards to do the sign work. It will say, for instance, "Merlot," or "Chardonnay," or "Cabernet Sauvignon" on it. I wish I could somehow do the lettering on a transparent sheet of plastic over the painting so I wouldn't have to destroy the images, but I don't think that overlay would look good and it would also be too shiny and reflective to make a good sign. So I've photographed the 15 signs before I letter them and this will have to do. I can always make more of them since each one only took a couple of hours to paint.

Here's what this sign will look like with the type on it. This is not entirely representative of what the final painted version will look like. The painted background will be somewhat lighter to allow for contrasting type.


Acrylic on Masonite, about 17" x 9", September 2013. Click on the images for a larger view.

A note to my reader(s): The By-Product will be on hold for a week or so as I journey up to New England for a family occasion. The event is a memorial concert and tribute to my late father and his music. It will be a difficult time for me, so please keep me in your thoughts.

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